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The biggest new cars of 2014*

2014 is hardly a third done, but already we’ve seen the unveiling of much fine, shiny metal soon to grace the forecourts and driveways of our nation.

From bruising super-coupes to tiny, rear-drive city cars, there’s been plenty to whet the whistle - and indeed every other tuneless instrument - of the discerning petrolhead.

So here’s our round up of 2014’s finest new cars so far, in no particular order and doubtless missing a whole bunch of worthy entrants.

So have a click through, then tell us (a) what we’ve missed and (b) what you’re most looking forward to landing…

Alfa 4C Spider

Though it impressed Hammond on his thrash around Lake Como, it’s fair to say the Alfa 4C hasn’t met with universal approval. But we’re quietly hopeful the convertible 4C will be a finer prospect than the fun-but-flawed coupe.

Why? For one, it looks even better, the replacement of metal roof by canvas hood doing nothing to harm the 4C’s lovely lines, and the replacement of those weird ‘moon crater’ headlights with smoother affairs actively improving things.

For two, we’re promised even more noise and a more compliant ride. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until 2015 to find out if Alfa’s got it right.

Audi TT

It might look familiar, but the third generation of Audi’s iconic two-seater is truly all-new… and it’s gone digital. Based on the VW Group’s ubiquitous MQB underpinnings, the TT will launch in 230bhp petrol and 184bhp diesel flavours, along with the ballistic 310bhp TT-S.

There’s much tech, too: on the inside you’ll find a super-configurable digital dial display, and on the outside ‘intelligent’ LED headlights that respond to the sat nav’s commands…

Ferrari California T

Yes, it’s happened. For the first time since the F40, Ferrari has turbocharged one of its road cars. The Cali T gets a twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 making a robust 552bhp and 556lb ft of torque. 0-62mph? 3.6 seconds. Top speed? Many.

Citroen C4 Cactus

The C4 Cactus isn’t big, and it isn’t especially clever. It might just be, however, a gentle revolution in automotive philosophy

If that all sounds rather high-minded, we apologise. But the Cactus - effectively a jacked-up version of Citroen’s worthy-but-dull C4 hatch - is something rather different.

Rather than pitching for sportiness and white-knuckle excitement, it instead promises to lower its occupants’ collective heartbeat, with minimal instrumentation, a bench seat up front and a soft ride. Sounds blissful.

And it’s got weird bubblewrap on the doors. Once you pop, you can’t stop.

Renault Twingo

Think of it as a tiny Porsche 911. Because, like Zuffenhausen’s icon, the all-new Renault Twingo is rear-engined and rear-wheel drive. Walking-speed oversteer ahoy!

And boy, doesn’t it look cute? Maybe it’s not quite so spectacular as the TwinRun concept that preceded it, but, by the standards of tiny city-things, the Twingo - which shares its underpinnings with Smart’s soon-to-arrive ForTwo and ForFour - looks pretty damn tidy. No word on engines yet, but expect 1.0-litre triples to feature heavily.

BMW X4

Is it a squished X3? Or a downsized X6? Or a swollen 4-Series Gran Coupe? However you define the X4, there’s little question it’ll sell like underpriced Royal Mail shares when it reaches Britain later this year. Engines? All diesel. Purpose of existence? No idea, sorry…

Lexus NX

It’s taken a while, but Posh Toyota has finally revealed its answer to BMW’s X3 and the Audi Q5: an upmarket, mid-size softroader with a seriously pointy face.

We’ll see it in the UK late this year, and though we don’t know engine specifics, we’re told the Predator-grilled, RAV4-based NX will come in petrol-electric hybrid and straight petrol flavours, including, for the first time, a turbo petrol engine.

Is the NX finally proof that some of the Lexus’s LFA magic is finally filtering down to its mass-market road cars? Probably. But not such firm proof as…

BMW M4 convertible

We saw the fixed-roof M3 and M4 coupe late last year, but 2014 has shown us the drop-top version of BMW’s straight-six, twin-turbo tyre-murderer.

So what do we know? That the M4 cab has a three-part folding metal roof, that it makes the same 431bhp and 406lb ft of torque as its fixed-head cousins, and that it’ll get from 0-62mph in as little as 4.4 seconds. Which is quick.

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